Flood Mitigation Mistakes in Tucson | Eur Ing Dr James P. Howard II Flood Mitigation Mistakes in Tucson | Eur Ing Dr James P. Howard II

Dr James P. Howard, II
A Mathematician, a Different Kind of Mathematician, and a Statistician

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Flood Mitigation Mistakes in Tucson

The Arizona Daily Star has a post about recent flood mitigation measures taken in Tucson, and opens with this:

“This is a great Christmas present for 600 property owners,” said Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik, whose council ward covers some of the affected neighborhoods.

Kozachik further says that homeowners will likely save since they will not be required to purchase flood insurance from FEMA. This kind of defeats the purpose of insurance. The purpose of insurance is to insure against unlikely events, and not to ensure payment when a likely disaster strikes. For these homeowners, the reduced likelihood, though not impossibility, of future floods should push down the cost of flood insurance, but homeowners should still purchase. As we saw in New Orleans, flood mitigation measures can fail. Insurance will give homeowners the ability to pick up again if it happens.

Of course, I already wrote about this this month. Happy new year, everyone.

Image of Tucson flash flooding by Owen Kelly via Wikipedia.